Every few weeks, speculation starts spreading about a mini version of the Apple iPad. Obviously a response to low-priced Android tablets, especially the $199.99 Amazon Kindle Fire, the rumors have centered on a 7.85 inch screen which is slightly larger than the 7 inch panel on Amazon's low-priced tablet. Now, a "reliable source," as characterized by websiteiMore, says that a 7 inch mini Apple iPad will hit the market in October, priced in a range of $200-$250. The site says that Apple wants to price the mini iPad aggressively so that there will be no room for the competition to come in lower.

Concept of the mini Apple iPad courtesy of iMore

The Amazon Kindle Fire was launched last November and quickly became the second highest selling tablet after the Apple iPad and the crew at Cupertino might be feeling Amazon's hot breath over its shoulder. The mini Apple iPad, outside of the screen size, will resemble its bigger brother in every way right down to the 2048-by-1536 resolution of the screen. Unlike the 16GB that the entry-level model of the new iPad offers, the smaller variant will feature 8GB of native memory. A smaller version of Apple's popular tablet would have buyers ready to shell out cash. According to a survey from PriceGrabber, out of 2,603 Americans surveyed late last month, 52% would buy a scaled-down version of the Apple iPad.

While iMore's reliable source calls for the mini Apple iPad to hit the market in October, as we told you on Wednesday, DigiTimes reported that the 7 inch iPad would be launched in August with the next Apple iPhone coming the next month. We've heard these stories before, and while it is healthy to hope for the best, the more realistic action would be to wait for the official word from Apple on both the availability of a 7 inch version of its tablet and the launch of the next-gen Apple iPhone. The DigiTimes report says that the 7 inch tablet would be manufactured by Foxconn while the next iPhone and a 10 inch iPad to be launched during the fourth quarter would both be built by Pegatron.

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I guess there is a sweet spot for 7" tablets now considering Apple and Steve Jobs LOL at the whole thing. Can't help it the kindle Fire is selling really nice and people know you don't have to over pay if your going to just read books and play angry birds. But for that price range, I see maybe $300, nothing less.

Q4 2011 results: sales jump to $17.43 billion, but profits drop 58 percent. You can't probably even count. You don't even like any company competing against the IPAD. You keep saying everyone is copying APPLE and it's products. But look at Amazon. And not everyone doesn't have the money or want to spend 500$ on a tablet. you can buy a laptop with that money or a new TV

If the tablet is 7.85", then it should be labeled ad an 8" tablet. Given a refurbished iPad 2 goes for $349 for 16 GB, selling the 8" tablet at $229 will just about destroy the 7" android tablet market ad well as the iPod Touch market.

People need to keep in mind the iPod Touch 4G 8GB goes for about $200.

So, in short, apple is willing to lose the normal 70% profit on their crummy products made by almost-slave-labor just to monopolize a particular segment of the market. I wonder how much profit they'll make off these (if true)?

why because it would obliterate your "premium, expensive, and only for rich people" argument that you throw around so often?

The apple you knew under Jobs is gone. If you havent notice, Cook is making moves to take iOS out of the air of "exclusive" and make them available to everyone everywhere.. even at walmart, even at 7 inches.
They cant afford to continue to ignore entire segments of the market, just to fit some fanboy fantasy you have.

I don't see Apple doing this because they're already dominating the tablet market. This would cut into their profit margins. Also the iPad is selling so well it doesn't make sense to introduce another one so soon.

You are right. Apple won't do it. But the only reason is that it will cut into IPad 3 and 4 sales. It will have little to no affect on the Kindle fire or any other Google tablet. But those considering getting a new IPad would consider the cheaper 7 in model.

i guess apple could do this… but they would have to keep the price down for sure… because if its somewhere closer to 300, why not just buy an ipad 2 for just a little more… but they have always been pretty competitive on the entry level ipad pricing so who knows

Apple fanboys need to get over their whole "omfgg this can't happen nooo!! we are the rich who only deserve to have an apple product!" OR maybe you just neglect all your real bills and just get an apple product so you FEEL rich. Either way it's stupid and needs to stop.

Apple would be making a very smart move by coming out with a CHEAP and AFFORDABLE product like the 7 inch ipad. It would easily shatter the "record breaking" sales of the ipads of the past.

50.Hemlocke (unregistered)

I like Apple products (I have also owned quite a few Android phones in the last year, and even a WP7.5), and I don't believe this way. I think Apple DOES make a premium product, as evidenced by the lifespan of iMacs, MBPs, and such, but that is a reason to buy them, not a status symbol to be lorded over people. I imagine there are Apple elitists, just as you have the programmer elitists ("Linux FTW!"), and asshats in just about every segment. That's not the point, though.

You are correct that a 7" (7.85") iPad makes smart business sense. It WOULD cannibalize some iPad sales, but Apple has never been shy about delivering disruptive products that do this to their own lines (iPhone kills iPod, MBA hurts MBP, etc.) because the explosive growth of a new segment makes up for the loss of sales in a more mature product line. Cheaper and smaller, but with the same Apple attention to detail and quality, will destroy the last lingering vestiges of non-iPad presence in the tablet market, and give people like me (I didn't like the size of my iPad2) a reason to buy one.

I would snap up a 7 inch iPad in a heartbeat. A truly portable tablet that isn't cumbersome to carry with you combined with the largest number of dedicated tablet apps? Sold.

I think Apple is learning that they can undercut people because selling the device is peanuts when compared to hooking people into their ecosystem. Apple can easily sell an iPad at no profit, but then rake in the cash as people use their store fronts to buy movies, tv shows, apps, music, etc...

That's not quite true. Exactly. Apple makes the bulk of its revenue through the sale of iPhones, at about 50% last quarter. But revenue and profit aren't quite the same thing.

Digital content is a low cost way of producing profit, and one that intrinsically rises with each device sold (whether it be iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch). Then Apple leverages their ecosystem to pull in further purchases. "Bought a cheap iPad? You are more likely to stay invested and buy an iPhone or a larger iPad.

It's a double investment in that sense. Plus, a smaller iPad would be a more direct competitor with e-readers, and allow Apple to further pursue pushing iBook content.

That's actually not quite true. Apple tends to target profitability over market dominance. They have just been able to adjust their strategy well to keep profitability ridiculously high. This seems to be especially true under Tim Cook, whose strategy has been to leverage their existing market in his short reign helming the company.

This move, cheaper iPad for the masses, would be a big departure from the Apple of the Steve Jobs era, where premium products were their bread and butter. But I think they learned a lot from how Amazon executed the Fire, and realize that they are positioned to take a similar approach and execute it better with their infrastructure.

damn... im a a big time fandriod. im always bashing apple for there crappy products. but this is different. i might actually buy this:) and that price is great. and the screen? god that's got be gorgeous

ok...I doubt someone would call themselves a FANDROID and actually be an ANDROID user...but, I suppose it could happen.
I could see myself buying a smaller ipad for less money - depends on the quality, and I would also have to remind myself not to tinker with it, no matter how much I want to.

Hey TACO, I notice you like to red thumb just about every post on P.A., but you are falling behind...

Yo dawg I herd you like ipods so I made your ipod gigantic and called it an ipad, then we shrank it back down and called it an ipad mini. So you can have an ipod thats called an ipad without the size of the ipad or the size of the ipod.

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